Tiny park

Is this the smallest park in Raleigh?  Valle Henderson Park looks like a side yard for the house next door. It honors founder of the Oakwood Garden Club.

In the middle of the creek...

a brick fort?

Walking along the creek in Fallon Park, on the natural rocks, I found a brick structure.  Is it a child's fort?  No, the remnant of an old mill.

Fallon Park

I've been trying to visit all the Raleigh parks, a difficult task because there are so many.  I'm down to some of the lesser known parks now.  This little "mini park" is a long narrow band on either side of a small creek. 

 It is bordered by residential streets on both sides.  You could throw a stone from one side of the park to the other, or take a long walk down the length.

Green Hills County Park

Raleigh is not known for it's hills, and it's definitely hard to find a place to see the big sky.  But here at Green Hills park you can see both.  Why?  Green Hills is the new name of Landfill Park.  Each of the hills is a completed landfill.  

Might be a good place to see the sunset.

Bailey Park

Yes, the Bedford at Falls River subdivision takes its movie references seriously.  I've shown you Clarence's park earlier, but here's Bailey Park.  In the movie "It's a wonderful life" Bailey park was a housing development.  Here, it's a children's park in a housing development.

It's a wonderful life...

Bedford at Falls River is a nearby housing development.  It has taken the old Jimmy Stewart movie: "It's a wonderful Life"  very seriously.  There is a street called Zuzu place, a park called Bailey park, even a Pottersville.  This is Clarence's park, named after the angel in the movie.

Millbrook Exchange Park

I'm not sure what it is, It looks patriotic, with stars and stripes.

Twisted tree

I've been trying to figure out how this tree trunk grew this way.  I'm thinking there must have been a strong vine twisted tightly around it as it grew???

Ugly play animals

Somehow all of the bouncy animals for kids to play on in parks are always ugly.  It's hard to figure out what they're supposed to be.  I think this is a frog, but that's just because of it's color.  

Or this one...I think it's a squirrel.

Lynn Lake Fall

Lynn Lake has a peaceful 2 mile walking path around it.  It looks totally natural, but there are condos and apartment complexes hidden behind the trees...

Bullet points

We were told at one time in school to stop calling them "bullet points", and instead call them "focus points".  (Less violent?)  But these are true bullet points, found on a sign posted at the water's edge of Falls Lake.  My guess is that people take pot shots at it from their boats on the lake.  Hmmm, as I walked by on the hiking trail I hoped that no one felt like shooting that day...

Back to the grindstone

There were a lot of mills in Raleigh on the little creeks.  This grindstone sits at the entrance to the visitor center at Umstead State Park.  The area once was inhabited by small farms and mills.  The land was depleted and the farms were mostly abandoned.  In 1934 the CCC bought the land and made it into a recreation area.  Later it was bought by the state.  It has a darker past, at one time it was 2 parks, one for African Americans, and one for Whites.  The two entrances to the park still do not connect.  Wikipedia has some of the history here.

Umstead State Park

Raleigh has a lot of forested parks with beautiful walking trails.  But the granddaddy of them is William B. Umstead State Park.  It is described as an "Oasis of tranquility; a peaceful haven" in the park brochure.  (of course it is in the flightpath of RDU airport)  Some information here.